Josh Turek urges US Senate Democrats to help advance farm bill

Democrats are seeking a two-year extension of part of the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” Act requiring states to pay a portion SNAP costs currently covered by the federal government if they have a SNAP payment error rate above 6%.

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Turek, a state representative from Council Bluffs, is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in the U.S. Senate race. He had said in a statement he would have voted in support of the measure, and said Senate Democrats “failed” farmers by not moving forward the bill.

After speaking at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Friday, Turek told reporters this statement does not mean he thinks there aren’t problems with the proposal.

“I think one of the flaws is it benefits far too much the southern farmers, not necessarily the Iowa farmers with with corn and soybeans, but I don’t think that we should let perfection stand in the way of progress,” Turek said. “We’re already three years overdue. Our Iowa farmers are hurting, and so I would be in favor of voting that, moving that along. Because as I’ve been traveling this state, I’m hearing more and more and more, ‘I’m really concerned that we’re going to lose … what remains of our small family farms.'”

He said not passing a farm bill would further hurt rural communities in Iowa, which he said have suffered from losing pharmacies, schools and healthcare clinics. At the same time, Turek said, rural communities are also being hurt by cuts to SNAP.

“To have a functioning rural community, you’ve got to have grocery stores. Well, the SNAP cuts hurt that,” Turek said. “You’ve got to have pharmacies, lack of PBM (pharmacy benefit manager) reform hurts that. You got to have healthcare clinics —  certainly, this is the down ballot effects of Medicaid cuts — and you got to have functioning public schools. I’m seeing rural communities that are absolutely being hollowed out. We got to pass the farm bill.”

While Turek highlighted his disagreement with Senate Democrats on this issue, Republicans speaking at a “Turek’s Too Liberal” press conference at the fair hosted by the Republican Party of Iowa said Turek would side with his party if elected. State Rep. Jon Dunwell, R-Newton, who serves alongside Turek in the Iowa House, claimed Turek “would work with radicals to prevent the passage of the farm bill.”

Chris Perdue, a farmer from Pottawattamie County, said farmers were not able to install terraces for soil conservation because a 43-day federal government shutdown in 2025 happened during the short period between harvest and snowfall when this infrastructure could be built.

“The USDA was shut down, they couldn’t even turn computer on to help us because we needed soil techs to come out and measure the terraces,” Perdue said. ” Congresswoman Ashley Hinson voted for the (continuing resolution) to keep the government open, right? And Josh Turek would vote along party lines to keep the government shut down if that happens again.”

Perdue and the other speakers spoke in support of Hinson’s work on the 2025 “One, Big Beautiful Bill” Act and support for President Donald Trump’s policies, saying Turek would repeal tax cuts made in the legislation.

Turek said he supported some of the tax provisions in the 2025 law.

“I’ve been very open and vocal that I’ll work with anyone, including President Trump, on issues,” Turek said. “I agree with him that we should have no tax on tips and overtime. I agree with him that we need to drive private equity out of housing. I’m willing to work with anyone across the aisle.”

Turek was the first of many candidates scheduled to speak at The Des Moines Register Political Soapbox during the 11 days of the fair. See the schedule here.

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